Captain Nord returns to leap for M. Track at Dealware Invite

Although Penn captain Dan Nord's return to competition for the men's track team may not have been as well-publicized as Latrell Sprewell's return to the NBA, it was definitely more impressive. While Sprewell struggled in his Knicks debut, Nord managed an impressive sixth-place finish in his first competition of the 1998-99 season. At the Delaware Invitational -- a two-day meet Penn coach Charlie Powell simply described as "long" -- Nord returned from a knee injury to jump for the first time all season. "It was a lot of fun to be out there with the team again," Nord said. "I had a big smile on my face." Nord was pleased that he jumped decently without re-injuring his knee. He hopes to be at 100 percent next week before worrying about qualifying for the IC4As. When asked about his sixth-place finish, the senior replied, "The competition was not stellar." The Quakers were not expecting the same caliber of competition that they faced at the Terrier Classic in Boston. "In spots we did well," Powell said. "I thought Boston was a much better meet. We really worked very, very hard this week [in practice] and some guys were dragging a little bit." Penn did very well in the field events, especially the jumping events. Senior Stan Anderson finished first in the triple jump with a distance of 50'6.25" and the high jump with a height of 6'8". Senior Rich Carlson finished just behind Anderson in the high jump, also with a height of 6'8". Freshman Tuan Wreh once again showed that he has adjusted well to college athletics with a distance of 48'2" in the triple jump, second behind Anderson. "I was feeling good both of those days," Anderson said. "I'm ready to go to Heps." Although Carlson didn't feel that he jumped to his potential, he echoed Anderson's feelings about the meet in general. "I was a little disappointed, but I jumped a lot better than I had," Carlson said. "I think I did a lot better this weekend. It was a season [personal record]." The pole vaulters, on the other hand, performed below expectations. After placing three in the top four spots in Boston, only one Quaker managed to record a height at the Delaware Invitational. "We warmed up, but there were so many people there, we had to wait three hours [to compete]," Penn vaulter Luke Stokes said. Stokes also attributed the poor performance to not having his own pole but he expects to have a new one sometime during practice this week. Penn vaulter Bobby Reynolds, a junior, finished third in the event. Penn freshman Mike Aguilar highlighted the running events by finishing third in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.72 seconds. The fiercer competition in the sprinting events led to fewer top eight finishes for the Quakers, although the 4x400 meter relay team finished fourth with a time of three minutes and 21.98 seconds. To qualify for the IC4As in their event, the relay team must shave nearly half a second from their time, something they hope to do next week. "We were happy with our results," Penn sophomore Darryl Olczak said. "We think we could've done better, [but at least] we were all healthy and running together." Next week is crunch time for the remaining Quakers who haven't qualified for IC4As, as they will have one last meet before Heps. "It's very seldom if ever we have a track meet where everyone does what they're capable of [doing]," Carlson said. "[But] it's another stepping stone to Heps."

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